IN THE WAY

#140                                                                          IN THE WAY                                                                                                 

Matthew 19:13-15 NIV                                                                                                                         Orig. 7-11-65 (9-73)

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 8-25-88 

Passage:  ¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Purpose: Approaching the new church year, to remind my people of our need to offer ourselves in service to the needs around us.

Keywords:          Christ the Saviour                             Heritage               Hunger

                                Children                               Home                    Special Day        

Timeline/Series:               New Church Year

Introduction

                Both of the presidential candidates are talking about things important to all of us: childcare, education, patriotism.  Private education has become a felt need for many parents.  We are reading more and more about parents who are being allowed to educate their children at home.

                Problems in the schools, public and private, are rife.  One is put in mind again of the Baltimore woman who brought suit against her county school board.  She claimed that her son, in choosing not to participate in what she called religious exercises, was being unduly ostracized.  At that time, the schools opened with scripture, and with the recitation of  the Lord’s prayer.  Children who did not wish to participate were allowed to excuse themselves  and leave the room.

                Two hundred years ago, and many of the years since, every school of higher education in this country was connected with some church denomination.  Except for the joint effort of Christian people, there would have been  no higher education on this continent.  Most of those colleges and universities are still around: Colgate, Bucknell, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, and many others.  They are, however, no longer denominationally aligned.  Then, the terms, “education” and “Christian education,” were synonymous. 

                In light of what is happening in education today, it  is no longer remotely conceivable that our children will not be challenged by spiritual things in public or private education.  We must be sure that our churches do our utmost to provide this vital service.  Every Christian is obliged to offer himself/herself in this essential kingdom service.

I.             First, There Must Be Education.  The words of Matthew are that Jesus “blessed them.”  It is a heritage of Judeo/Christian conviction.  Every person in this land is better off because of our heritage.  Many do not acknowledge it.  Yet, they feast on what these religious imperatives have given.  It is one God, living, loving, working through the evils of satanic influence.  Adam was warned after his compromise: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat bread.” 

                This life knows no true good that comes without cost. There is a truism: “There’s no free lunch.”

                Our heritage is not only Judeo-Christian, but set in a free republic.  Whatever your genetic origins, what would life be in those origins?  At once remembering the price paid by our forefathers for this, we are not that far removed from forebears who tilled the ground behind hand-forged plows, and unrelenting oxen, carrying a blunderbuss for protection.  You worry about the cost of living:  They paid dearly for meat and potatoes.

                The blessing is  that the Kingdom of God has come among us.  It is as near as breathing and sunshine.  It does not come with little children, but from little children who are brought to Him.

                True prosperity is not material but conditional.  The need of the hour is in the Kingdom of God.  So we are not the answer.  These, our children, are not the answer.  All of us become the KINGDOM.  That’s the answer.

                Since the Bible is taken from the school, we must pinpoint its value as never before.  We need sixty-seventy people involved in Christian education.  We have no more than half.  Church Training is an eight-cylinder engine beating on two.  Missions and music are hanging on the hope and whisper of half-a-dozen.

                We start next week.  What will you as a Christian be doing between morning worship services from one Sunday to the next?

II.            Secondly, We Must Grasp the True Vitality of the Home.  “Then there were brought to Him little children.”  The event here described is simply that of caring mothers bringing a child to some distinguished rabbi for a blessing.  It was a common occurrence.  It happened on the child’s first birthday.

                A question of responsibility is put forth.  What is the bottom-line charge?  It is, of course, parental.  The best thing the church can do for parents is to convince them.  Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  III John 4 “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

                In an age that seeks liberation from all strictures, some demands are to be put in place.  There is little efficacy in marriage.  The license doesn’t prove God is in it.  Being a biological parent is no proof of Christian manhood or womanhood.  The mystery content is found in commitment: commitment to God; commitment to each other forever; commitment that children will be reared in an atmosphere of love and trust.

                “My parents forced me” say the uncaring and the uncommitted.  “I will not force religion down them.”  Would you force air if suffocating? If cancer attacked, would you force treatment? Would you advise seat belts, helmets? 

                If they were hungry, would you not force food for them?  During the noon meal in this country, 1200 children worldwide will starve to death.  30,000 will die today. 12-18 million people will die this year.  Check the label to see where a gift was made.

III.           And Three, Certainly not the Least Important, Is to Encourage Them to Faith in Christ.  “Suffer the little children and forbid them not.  We  have long heard of parallelism in Hebrew prose.  Something uniquely important is repeated.  And as if to add further meaning, he repeats the concept positively then negatively.  “Permit” is followed by “do not forbid.”

                Perhaps we need to review some of the marvelous characteristics of childhood.  Trust is the first essence of children. They readily forgive even to the threshold of abuse.  They approach life with an eye for wonder.  Obedience is natural to them.  But disobedience is a learned ruse.  Childlike faith is to live in trust of God, to think first of obedience, to desire to be forgiving, to contemplate the wonder of God’s care.

                The best way to such faith is development over time, to so touch the lives of our children, to see other children whose lives can only be touched for good by the gospel.  No matter what the age of need, it is still this child-like faith offering opportunity—not childish, but childlike.

                And Jesus instructs us.  We are not to be negative influences. But more, we are to be positive motivators urging spiritual children of all ages to the gospel: to Jesus.

Conclusion

                We have approved our Nominating Committee report, and we have a full slate of workers.  Next, the Finance Committee gets to work on the budget.  It will need to be between $100,000 and $120,000.  Peter spoke for the early church: “Silver and gold, have I none; but such as I have give I thee.  In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.”   Such as we have also.                                              

IN THE ARMS OF JESUS

#136                                                               IN THE ARMS OF JESUS                                                                                      

Scripture  Mark 10:13-16 NIV                                                                                                                          Orig. 6-23-78

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 6-24-88 

Passage:  ¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Purpose:  Dedicated to the cause of the spiritual education of boys and girls through the church.

Keywords:          Christ the Saviour                             Education            Christian Education         Heritage               VBS

Introduction

                A few years ago, late in the year, I was working with a young couple who were soon to be married.  It happened to be one of those occasions where both participants were doing everything humanly possible to effect a sensitively done ceremony.  And I was eager to help them. 

                They felt that this was the only way that they could look back upon their wedding day and rejoice in a day that had been commemorative to their faith in Christ as well as to their love. 

                Two days before the wedding, the newspapers told of another wedding.  In fact, it was on the front page.  The wedding thus described took place  in New Roads, La.  The bride/groom were dressed in the attire of witch/warlock.  Their attendants were decked out as ghouls and southern belles.

                The media would never have written up the wedding we were planning.  They were all too eager to describe in full measure the frenetic energy of a society that has lost its way.  It is this effort to expedite the abnormal that allows a sideshow to become acceptable, and the abnormal to become normal.

                It is thus, with fear in our hearts, that we undertake a program of Christian education.  If we do not teach others of Jesus, and His waiting arms, however will they learn?  The paranormal, the abnormal, is the word  the world passes on.  Our word is spirit, and it is life.  To that end, VBS is a vital part of our effort.  We must teach our children, and all others whom we can, of Jesus, and of his waiting “arms” of blessing.

I.             His Arms Speak First of Substance.  V16 “And He took them up in His arms, put hands upon them and blessed them.”  The substance here is seen in our Judeo-Christian heritage of family. One God: all living, all loving, working against the influence of Satan,  who, by the way, is having a field day primarily on  the back of religious organizers—TV entrepreneurs, denominational controversies, a New York preacher playing leapfrog with lies.  If we don’t tell or show them what God is really like, who will?  At Summer Theater in New Orleans, dissidents placarded Anita Bryant in the late 70’s: “Jesus may have died for sin, but not for mine.”

                God has chosen to work through His church in accomplishment of His purpose.  Satan is pleased to work through the ungodly.  He takes greater pleasure in magnifying faithlessness of so-called believers.  Did you notice the recent write up of dedication of the national headquarters of Atheists? Organized, they’re no threat.  The threat is when we can’t muster interest in doing what we need.  What have you invested in VBS? A lady in town called. She wanted her three daughters in VBS.  She called back, “What can I do?” People ought to be standing in line to help.  Are you?

                Substance is also seen in our purpose.  That  purpose is to guide people in redemptive choices.  Jesus’ parable of the prodigal was to make the point of the difference of life’s values, and difficulty of life’s choices.  The pulse he came to eat was a cheap substitute.  Your children,  your neighbor’s  children, are going to get wrapped up in something.  Why not Jesus? The Greek for “took”—enagkalisamenos—means “folding in his arms.”  If you’ve never “folded” a child in your arms, my heart bleeds for you. 

                The Kingdom of God is mentioned twice.  It belongs to those who, like these children, are receptive.  Jesus did not say it consisted of little children,  he said it happens when those of simple spirit find true substance in Him.  And it’s never been easy.  Our forefathers tilled behind a hand forged plow, and unrelenting oxen, with blunderbuss for protection.  They would have found it easy to live for Jesus in an air-conditioned home with a late model car,  microwaves, and the like.

II.            In This Light, His Arms Speak of Significance.  V13 “And they brought young children to Him that He  should touch them.”  It is undoubtedly true that many parents have no interest in children coming to Jesus.  In many instances, but not all, there is something we can do.  Those who are grandparents, do you sacrifice your witness as an infringement?

                To be  truly redemptive, genuine  parental responsibility must be proclaimed.  It is never a problem to lead a child to faith whose parents are believers.  It is a hundred times more difficult if one or both are not.  The home must exercise responsibility.  Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go.”  3 John 4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

                Some deny that the home can be what it once was, a vine-covered cottage down a quiet lane with happy,  unthreatened children.  But ours is a drug-sated, alcohol-scarred abused community of unconcern. 

A father took a job in a distant city.  He  moved the family into a motel. Several weeks passed.  A motel employee asked, “Little boy, don’t you have a home? I see you here all the time.”  “Sure, we just haven’t found a house to put it in yet.”  After we get settled, as believers, is when we need to do all we can to help other people to have a home to put in a house somewhere.

Let me try to define “home” for you.  It is a place where individuality is happy to  play second-fiddle to family.  It is a  place where neither children nor spouses have to play guessing games about love.  It is a place where God’s Word and work are reverenced.  It is a place where there are no distractions between the way one lives and what one says or teaches.  The church, as an extended family, carries a correlation to the home.

III.           His Arms Testify Ultimately of Salvation.  V14b “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not.”  I see this as a positive admonition of need.  The three verses just prior stress the sanctity of the home.  Jesus is instructing the parents to take the lead in their children’s well-being (paidua). The word means “earliest childhood.”

                I am reading salvation into this, of course.  The parent expresses faith in the bringing.  The child discovers faith as what was brought.  There is a parenthetical warning here.  Yes, some bring their children.  Some merely avoid standing in the way, at least by intent.  Some, thoughtlessly, prevent them.  The spirit of Jesus is clearly seen in response to these variant attitudes.  V14 “When Jesus saw this, He was much indignant”—NIV. The King James reads “displeased.”  My Greek dictionary doesn’t describe “indignant.” It refers to “anger.”  In this instance He was angry with the disciples.  Be reminded, He was angry because they stood in the way.

Conclusion

                “Nobody Said It Was Easy” is a term that all of us have used, or have had used on us.  The book of which it is the title happens to be a book on parenting.  It isn’t easy at home, or at church, but it must be done, and you ought to help.

THE COMPONENTS OF GROWTH

#115                                                      THE COMPONENTS OF GROWTH                                                                             

Scripture  Mark 4:1-20 NIV                                                                                                                            Orig. 12/11/83

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 8/19/86 

Passage:  Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” ⁹ Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”¹⁰ When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables ¹² so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’^[a]”

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Purpose: Continuing a Prayer Meeting series form Mark, sharing with my people the need to commit oneself to the task of learning the Kingdom of God.

Introduction

                Helen Keller once responded to a student’s question about the difficulty of blindness by responding that it was worse to “have eyes and not be able to see.”  She merely wanted to shock the shortsighted into the realization that one must pursue for understanding, even of the Kingdom of God.  The hearer must not only be aware of the words spoken, he must heed them with the intent to understand and believe.

                There is a great host of people, to whom the gospel has been revealed, yet who choose not to believe.  Opportunity may be extended.  Obligation is clearly demanded. Open heartedness is the need of the hour.  But all too often, opinion is allowed to cloud the mind and close the door of faith.

                The issue addressed by Jesus in this parable is simply in determination of whether we hear Him or another.  Matthew 13:15 (context) “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should turn again, and I should heal them.”

                Isaiah 6:9-10 “⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.^[a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,  understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

Mark 4:24 “And He said unto them, ‘Take heed what ye hear.’”

Luke 8:18 “Take heed therefore how ye hear.”

I.             The First Component Is the Seed as the Hearing of Faith.  V4 “. . . as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside . . . v5 other fell on the rocky ground . . . v7 and other fell among the thorns . . . and others fell into the good ground.”

                Recall the occasion of this teaching, somewhere in Galilee with a large crowd, curious, concerned, confused, contentious.  He was positioned to teach effectively (Mark 3:9). They saw also the fields, paths, sower, and birds.

                As the parable revolves around seed, we must briefly examine it.  No distinction is made in the quality of the seed.  Farmers go to great length to compare seed types and their yields, using computer records and magazine recommendations.  Here, the seed stands for “the word of the Kingdom.”  Luke 8:12 “The seed is the word of God.” Mark 4:14 “The sower soweth the word.”

                What we know is that in every instance the right seed is used.  I Peter 1:23 “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever.”

II.            The Next Component Is the Soil: The Heart Seeking Fulfillment.  V4f “. . . wayside . . . stony ground . . . among thorns . . . good ground.”

                The wayside hearer has a hard, beaten, worn pathway.  There is good seed, but no soil.  Seeds  roll before the wind, and are scavenged by birds.  The seed does not even germinate.

                The stony ground hearer has good seed, but the soil is poor.  The seed did germinate, but no depth of earth existed to offer moisture.  Without roots it wilted under a hot sun.  This is the hearer who listens but does nothing with what he hears.

                The thorny ground hearer has good seed and good soil, but competition for soil moisture and  nourishment is acute.  For instance, at an athletic contest there are ability and desire; victory often belongs not to ability but to desire.  Player and coach communication are the key.  How preoccupied are we at Bible study or worship or witness opportunities?

                The good ground hearer has good seed and good soil. Growth begins quickly with singlemindedness.

III.           The Final Component Is that the Sower Is God.  V3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.”  Jesus, in Matthew 13:18, calls this the “Parable of the Sower.”  Note that there were  no distinctions in the quality of the seed, nor in the intent of the sower.  The singular difference is the soil.  The sower, however, is not incidental. We perceive that he stands in the place of God.  Little else is known. Mark says, “Listen! Behold!”

                Other scriptural references to sowing are:

                Ezekiel 28:25, “I gathered Israel from the people among whom they were scattered.”

                Amos 9:15, “I will plant them upon their land and they shall no more be pulled up.”

                Matthew 13:37, “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man.”

IV.          Lessons

                No farmer plants his seed minimally.  Farmer Buddy Fairchild replanted with 80% growth.  God will not do less than we.  II Corinthians 9:6 “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he that sows bountifully will reap also bountifully.”

                The responsibility for receptivity is our own.  Keep the components clear, encourage children, influence others.  The end result is judgment on what we do with what we have.  I Corinthians 2:14, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.”  Galatians 6:8, “He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

Conclusion

                I remind you that  the land we eagerly wait to plow and to plant in the spring owes us no bountiful crop; it owes us  only the right to get out of it what we can and will.  The schools of the parish owe  no student an education; but he is owed the right to pursue the fullest of which he is capable.  God’s creative genius does not owe the nations peace; He owes us the right to pursue peace and to show that we are worthy of it.

SALUTING THE LIBERATED WOMAN

#108                                                   SALUTING THE LIBERATED WOMAN                                                                          

Scripture Luke 1:46-55; 2:4-7, 33-35, 40 NIV                                                                                             Orig. 5/10/64

                                                                                                                                                                       Rewr. 5-9-86 (5/77) 

Passage: Luke 1 

⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”

Luke 2

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Purpose:  On the occasion of Mother’s Day, to share with my people a particular understanding of the meaning of Women’s Liberation

Keywords:          Dedication          Duty      Liberation            Marriage              Motherhood                      Special Day

Introduction

                Before allowing Mary to testify to us of a truly liberated woman, may I call your attention to her Old Testament counterpart, named Esther.  History paints a rather dim picture of woman’s place during her day.  There were no feminine aspirations to equality, and the men were intent on keeping it that way. Esther and others like her lived in the crucible of inequality.

                Just before Esther makes her timely appearance, the beautiful Vashti was queen.  But now she has been deposed.  She embarrassed her husband and benefactor, the powerful King Ahasuerus, of Media/Persia and “125 other provinces from India to Ethiopia.”  Vashti had been summoned to come and parade her beauty before the lustful eyes of the lesser princes of the realm.  She refused.  Now there is liberation.  However, the menfolks decided that unless the king acted swiftly, this kind of uppitiness was sure to catch on with their wives.  We are not told that she was punished, only that she was deposed, stripped of her royal estate.  My knowledge of the period is limited, but Vashti would have been better off dead.

                Herein steps Esther.  That’s like following Nixon in the White House, or Edwards in the State House.  Esther, did you learn anything?  Esther, did you learn anything?  Do you know to come when you are called? Otherwise, enjoy yourself in the lap of luxury.

                Esther had an older kinsman who saw her in this new role as a standard bearer for Hebrew liberation.  Perhaps a dark-skinned Joan of Arc.  She just wanted her skin left intact.  Don’t forget that it was Mordecai, the kinsman, who was at fault in this mess.  The Jews were in the hotbox they were in because Mordecai would not bow before and reverence one of the king’s princes.  So, Mordecai challenges Esther, “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  It is to the truly liberated women who have functioned with queenly honor in a man’s world that this salute is addressed.

I.             The Liberated Woman’s Devotion of Faith.  Luke 1:46 “And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.”  It is the devotion to achieve what she can, while she can, where she can, to the glory of God.  You have the privilege of living in the world’s finest hour for women’s rights.  Don’t forget the achievements of your sisters: Sarah, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Mary, Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale.  Do those at the forefront today deserve the credit? It was an idea whose time had come.  Many think equality discounts God because He is male.

                The New Orleans Times Picayune printed an article written by a nun about God the Mother.  Did she believe it, or was it cleverness?  We have some right to get away from terms of God’s sexuality.  God the Father still says something that God the Person never will.  He is wholly Other.

                So, we are making peace with old and often outmoded concepts.  There are men who want to keep their women subservient.

Genesis 2:18, King James Version: “I will make him an helpmeet for him.”

Me: “I will make him his counterpart to complement and complete him.”

Society is not dependent on “family as we have known it,” but on family.  In the dimension of faith, if woman chooses equality, she loses uniqueness. 

Statistics show greater equality, also, lung cancer, sclerosis, heart disease. Statistic: Less than 100 of 1000 women between 15-44 are married; babies are having babies; abortion on demand; etc.

Women’s truest liberator and liberation is in the dimension of faith.  Some go for headlines: “Six Woman Basketball Illegal,” “All Boys’ Choir Falls Victim to Women’s Lib.”  But the real discovery is that of Faith: “My soul magnifies the Lord, My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”  Therein she becomes the enabler—the Christian mother.

II.            The Liberated Woman’s Detachment for Her Husband.  Luke 2:4, “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, . . . unto Bethlehem, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.”  The consensus of concern remains that the husband be the provider of sustenance.  It becomes more difficult for one income to suffice.  In either case, the wife becomes the principal enabler.  She is more often the one called upon to make sacrifices to complement her life to that of her husband.  The Biblical record sustains this.

                But the place of authority figure is not the intent.  The first compulsion of God on female or male is faith.  I like what a sainted seminary professor used to say, “The wife submits, not because she has found her master, but because her heart has found its rest.”

III.           The Liberated Woman’s Duty in Motherhood.  Luke 2:7, “She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  She was called upon, as mothers often are, to make fullest use of circumstances.  A cattle stall became a castle under a loving mother’s hand. 

She was called upon, as mothers often are, to begin as early as possible to complement and supplement spiritual instruction. Knowing what they are learning that is potentially harmful is half the battle.  Tipper Gore fought for moral responsibility in popular music. 

She was called upon, as mothers often are, to pray unendingly for God’s sustenance, encouraging them outside the nest while knowing the dangers and counteracting.  Ecclesiastes 11:9, “Rejoice, . . . in your youth and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that from all these, God will bring you into judgment.”  But, you see, this is a happy eventuality when the child has learned that the judgment of God is to be trusted.

She was called upon, as mothers often are, to challenge to seek and follow God’s will as He reveals it.  Liberation for its own right is a basket of summer fruit, rotten and contaminated.  One can make peace with God’s will.

Driving from Alexandria to Baton Rouge, I met a young man on his way west about twenty miles out of Baton Rouge.  He was a rover.  Across his chest was a guitar.  On his back he carried his backpack, complete with a map of his itinerary.  All of this while he pedaled a monocycle.  He claimed liberation.  Some might claim that he was being victimized by this roving spirit.

Conclusion

                Devotion to Christ!  Detachment for husband and family!  Duty!  These are the clarion calls of true liberation.  Someone has said, “When a woman is possessed by Jesus Christ, something more significant happens to her than could ever happen to a man.”

                Khalil Gibran, in his book, “Jesus, the Son of Man,” includes what he interprets to be the feeling that Mary Magdalene had for Jesus.  “Then Jesus looked at her and said, ‘You have many lovers, yet I alone love you.  Other men love themselves in your nearness, I love you in yourself.  Other men see beauty in you that shall fade away sooner than their own years. I see a beauty in you that shall not fade away, and in the autumn of your days that beauty shall not be afraid to gaze at itself in the mirror, and it shall not be offended.’”

CROWDS ABOUT THE CROSS

#096                                                          CROWDS ABOUT THE CROSS                                                                                 

Scripture  Luke 23:26-43 NIV                                                                                                                              Orig. 5-6-62

                                                                                                                                                                       Rewr. (8-76)  3-5-89 

Passage:  ²⁶ As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’^{[a] 31} For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” ³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”^[b] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  ³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  ³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews. ³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”  ⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[c]”  ⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Purpose:  Approaching Easter, to speak to my people of variant attitudes about Jesus’ death, and the determination that He died in our place.

Keywords:          Christ as Saviour                               Faith                      Special Day, Easter          Crucifixion           Man/Sin

Timeline/Series: Prior to Easter 

Introduction

                It is not necessary for us to travel very far to encounter crowds.  They are everywhere we go, and their reasons for being where they are, are as numerous as the people themselves.

                We find these crowds at our malls, our cotillions of commerce.  They are there to shop, some even to spend money.  But many others are there for the purpose of seeing and being seen.

                Again, we may find the crowds at ball games, at religious conventions, at historic sites, at school convocations, at pageants and festivals, or speeding down the already unsafe highways.

                They gather in the mountains, at the beach, at parades commemorating such themes as Mardi Gras, freedom, homecoming, etc.  You see them riding horses, wearing clown costumes, playing band instruments. Some would not be anywhere else in all the world.  Others would rather be anywhere than where they are.

                The paper told of a gathering crowd.  A distraught woman was threatening to take her own life.  The curious came out of the woodwork.  With hoots and jeers some of them urged her on.  Some there surely cared, but they were intimidated by those who did not.  The police arrived, but even they had difficulty from the vented anger of the crowd becoming a mob that wanted to see some blood-letting.  In their attempt to break through to the poor woman she had become so disturbed by these savage tactics that she drove the knife several times into her own body.  Crowds, how easy to deplore what they become once we are free of their dastardly influence.  How would you have acted at the cross?

I.             On the Faces of That Crowd I See Contempt.  V35 “And the rulers also with them derided Him saying, He saved others; Let Him save Himself, if He be the Christ, the chosen of God.”  The Greek word for ‘passion’ is ‘pathos.’  We have a number of words that are derivatives: Sympathy—to feel for; Empathy—to feel with; Apathy—a lack of feeling; Antipathy—spite, feeling against.

                This last is what we find among Jesus’ enemies here at the cross.  What, exactly, were they feeling?  They were not bored with Jesus.  They weren’t looking for a more dynamic Messiah.  They hated, with passion, all that Jesus stood for.

                Matthew and Mark incriminate chief priests and scribes with “rulers” here mentioned.  Theirs is a contempt for the unproven.  His teaching was in conflict with theirs.  The scribe was patting himself on the back:  “The people need the law, I can give it to them.”  The rulers were concluding that the people were not smart enough to interpret their religion.  They could.

                Does it surprise us to learn that there are still those disposed to contempt for Jesus?  Some modernist religious leaders say that Jesus really didn’t have to die.  They discount Paul’s “Unto us which are saved, it is the power of God,” I Corinthians 1:18.  They ignore John’s terse “Whosoever denieth the son, the same hath not the Father,” I John 2:23.

                There are others who simply hate that for which Jesus stands.  I shared recently the testimony of a rock musician who played Jesus in Jesus Christ, Superstar.  Jeff Fenholt said the “Cast were atheists who were trying to mock Jesus.”  The recent uproar over The Last Temptation of Christ is also evidence. 

                I challenge you to send for the AFA Journal.  Read some of the dialogue being perpetrated on a naïve public.  I read Don Wildmon’s editorial (4-88) proudly accepting contempt and scorn of the ACLU and Playboy for having led the fight against smut.

II.            On Faces in That Crowd I Also See Consent.  V35 “And the people stood beholding.”  V36 “And the soldiers also mocked Him.” 

                Those looking on so candidly were agreeing to this carnage.  Those “beholding” are observing with interest, and their interest is not faith in Christ.  The word “mocked” spoken of the soldiers means ‘sport,’ ‘jest,’ ‘childlike.’  It seems as if there were ambulance chasers then also.  (“Let’s go see how long it takes the crucified to die.”)

                The passion expressed here is apathy.  The contemptuous deserve none of our pity.  These even less.  The soldiers go so far as to gamble over the garment of Jesus as a trivia item to talk about later. 

                I have seen the cards come out at one-sided ballgames.  The 1989 Nevada crusade team had to be challenged not to play slots; we may look back to Las Vegas in June.

                Yes, we can turn up a reason for consent.  Valid questions were being raised by people all over Judea.  Some of those questions were raised by people after hearing Jesus.  Others just didn’t like those kinds of questions.  So, this way they can get Jesus out of the way, and can even say, “Tsk! Tsk! What a shame.”

                Our church roles have many “consenters” on them.  If you didn’t listen carefully, you may have thought I said “sinners.”

III.           Yet Other Faces Stand Out in That Crowd, and On Them I See Confusion. V 40 “Dost not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation?”  There may have been, and credit must be given to, those “beholding” who were concerned about what all this meant.  Some had heard prophecies of Messiah.  A few might have understood that He was to suffer, die. 

                They had heard Jesus’ reference to himself as “Son of Man.”  Outside of Revelation, the title occurs more than 80 times, all but one in the gospels, and all but one of these used by Jesus Himself.  The exception (John 12:34) is interesting; it is the crowd in confusion asking, “We have heard from the law that Christ remains forever.  How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man?”  The passage, Acts 7:56, is the other exception: Stephen, nearing the end of his life, cried out “Look, I see . . . the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

IV.          But There Were Believers in the Crowd for on Some Faces I See Compassion Concern, Concession.  V26 “Upon . . . Simon, a Cyrenian, . . . they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.”  V27 “And there followed Him a great company of people, . . . which also bewailed and lamented Him.”

                They’re the ones who perceived in Jesus the answer to long-standing questions.  “Where is God?”  “Why was I born?”  “What happens when I die?”

                Believers were there who saw the world potentially as a better place, not yet ready for His departure, not believing that the tide had turned.  Peter (Matthew 16:22) “began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: This shall not be unto thee.”

                Perhaps there were those who had measured the required commitment needed by those who remain.  Down the ages the crucifixion must be repeated over and over again.   What face do you reveal to the Christ who dies there? The face of contempt? That of Consent? One of Confusion? Or the face He wishes to see, of compassion, concern, concession?

Conclusion

                We are part of the crowd.  We can’t change that.  But we do control the kind of face He sees.  In the angry crowd every trusting face He sees causes the nails to be less painful, the crown of thorns less burdensome, the hour of death less agonizing.  Look up!  Look up to Jesus!

BEHOLDERS OF CHRIST

#093                                                               BEHOLDERS OF CHRIST                                                                                      

Scripture  Mark 16:12-13 NIV                                                                                                                          Orig. 3-29-64

                                                                                                                                                                       Rewr. 1-78, 10-2-87 

Passage:  ¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

Purpose:   To provide occasion for my people to examine their own lives as beholders of Christ

Keywords:          Christ the Lord                   Hope                     Renewal              Resurrection

Introduction

                All that is established by this brief text is that then as now, there are variances in the ways that we respond to Jesus.  Then as now, we observe some who were believers, some who weren’t.

                Luke gives a larger treatment to this event.  In his concluding chapter, he tells the story of the two Emmaus-bound disciples.  Recall, please, that the hour was late, they were on their way to their home from Jerusalem.  They were joined by a man not known to them.  They were so impressed by what he said, when arriving in Emmaus, they invited him to spend the night.  He then took bread, blessed and broke it, and in his praying they suddenly realized who it was.  Instantly, he was, as it were, spirited away.  It was a deeply moving moment for them.  They would discuss it together, then immediately return to Jerusalem to tell the disciples what had happened.  That’s the way it is in the discovery of Jesus alive.

                Perhaps that’s the problem when our spirit sags.  We’ve left Jesus on the cross, or in a tomb.  And if that’s where we’ve left him, we’re looking in vain for his help.  What kind of “beholder” of Christ are you this morning?

                My wife and I wished two weeks ago that we had you all sitting around our table.  The Mesias had gone to our home after the evening service.  She began to tell of her conversion.  Her English failed, and her husband began to translate for the two of us.  Oh, how we felt the presence of the Lord as she testified of Jesus coming alive in her life.  She “beheld” Him, and that made all the difference. 

I.             There Are Beholders Who Cannot See Past His Humanity.  V 12 “He appeared in another form unto two of them.”  I’ve never known anyone incapable of recognizing Jesus’ admirable character.  The world still finds “no fault” with him. In Luke 23:4 Pilate says “I find no fault.”  Most of the fault found early was with those around Jesus.  Mark 7:2 “And when they saw . . . disciples eat bread with . . . unwashed hands, they found fault.” 

                It is still that way.  Those who would rebuke Him, are really rebuking us.  Gandhi for example—those who knew him said that his appreciation for Jesus was so great, if it only weren’t for His followers.

                We note here that some were incapable of grasping this reality of Jesus.  Luke 24:16 (disciples) “. . . their eyes were holden that they should not know him.”  But wait, it was not some blinding spiritual power keeping them in the dark.  The Greek is “khateo”—used by those who were bound by what they learned in error.  They had only known the flesh and blood Jesus.  They did not recognize Him as He now appeared as crucified, risen Lord.  How do WE “behold” Him?  Paul plants the seed in I Corinthians 15.

                We must also attempt to understand their mental state.  They had talked freely of the day’s events, that Jesus was dead, perhaps even because of sin—theirs or others.  Maybe they were even asking what it all meant.  Luke 24:21 “. . . we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel.”  They were writing the New Testament, but they had it not for counsel. 

                II Corinthians 5:21 “He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  They SAW Him, but they did not “behold” Him.

                Don’t let your humanity, or His humanity, limit your vision of Him.  If for all His worth, He was defeated by those who killed Him, then why should I try to change them?  If Jesus’ life, and death, has no relation to my sin, then I can do as I please, as others are doing.  But these two postulates fail miserably before a Jesus “beheld” as Saviour and Lord. 

                In the “holden” state, remember their hopelessness and remorse.  Ephesians 2:12 “At that time you were without Christ, . . . having no hope.”  To “behold” Him is to face Him in personal accountability for our sin, but discovering that He died for us.  Hebrews 2:3 “. . . How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”

                Now don’t forget that a strong case can be made that these two were, in fact, Jesus’ own aunt and uncle, Mary’s sister and her husband, Cleopas.  (See Luke 24:18 and John 19:25.)  They did not recognize their own nephew.  As long as sin is allowed to restrict our view, we will see only what we want to see.  And we want to see ourselves as alright in God’s eyes.  He sees us as absolved of sin, only in Jesus.

II.            We Must, Then, Become People of Faith, Beholding Jesus as Lord.  V12f “. . . He appeared . . . unto them.  And they went and told it unto the [others]: neither believed they them.”  The two experienced the happy miracle of recognition.  Note that it did not happen as they listened to the wise assertions of a stranger.  It happened when they in grief and consternation invited the Son of God to share in their meager lives.  Perhaps that’s it.  We are embarrassed to invite Jesus to share our bounty.  Their eyes were opened, while their eyes were closed.  They discover Him willing to respond to whatever they offer.

                It is important to see what this recognition accomplishes.  V13 “. . . they went and told it to the other(s).”  It worked a work of transformation for them.  Grief, doubt, dread, anguish are quickly vanquished.  Sharing what they have experienced becomes the first order of business.  It has nothing to do with some kind of super faith.  Not even a fulfilled belief.  It is a joy that becomes something less, unless shared. 

                But most of all, obedience is suddenly involved.  They had seen a stranger Jesus.  As they spoke with this stranger, they spoke of a man Jesus.  Returning as they did to the disciples, they spoke of Him as Lord.  Luke 24:33f “The same hour they returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven. . . .  The Lord is risen indeed . . . .  V35 and they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.”

III.           We Must Not Be Slow to Behold Him.  V12 “. . . He appeared in another form unto . . . them.”  He comes in our quiet times, or in the noise of our desperation.  He stays, unless we drive Him away by our faithlessness, even then staying within range of our repentance, within reach of our cry of faith.  To respond in faith is to discover who He really is.  He comes not because of who, or what, we are. He comes, not even because of what we are capable of becoming.  He comes, because of what He is, because of His all-sufficiency. 

                He comes, and we must behold who He is.

Conclusion

                The poet, John Masefield, wrote winsomely of matters that should be close to the heart of every believer in Christ, every beholder of Him.  In one such poem, he tells of the conversion of a mean and wicked man by the name of Saul Kane.  The name itself speak volumes.  There was a saintly Miss Bourne, whose goal in life was in helping the families of men like Saul Kane.  Saul sees her and drives her away. But she responds as leaving:

“Saul Kane,” she said, “When next you drink,

        Do me the gentleness to think

That every drop of drink accurst

        Makes Christ within you die of thirst,

That every dirty word you say

        Is one more flint upon His way,

Another thorn about His head,

        Another mock by where He tread,

Another nail, another cross.

        All that you are is that Christ’s loss.”

                As she leaves, the words begin to have an effect upon him.  Masefield next pictures him standing at the window, looking at the rainstorm he has driven Miss Bourne out into.  He speaks:

“The wet was pelting on the pane

        And something broke inside my brain.”

                He also leaves the warmth of the room and goes into the rain.  And he continues to speak:

“I did not think, I did not strive.

        The deep peace burned my me alive.

The bolted door had broken in.

        I knew that I had done with sin.

I knew that Christ had given me birth

        To brother all the souls on earth.

O glory of the lighted mind.

        How dead I’d been, how dumb, how blind.

The station brook to my new eyes

        Was babbling out of paradise.

The waters rushing from the rain

        Were singing, Christ has risen again.”

WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY

#476LS                                                       WATCHING JESUS CLOSELY                                                                                  

Scripture  Luke 14:1-14, NIV                                                                                                                            Orig. 3/13/68

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 1/30/85 

Passage:  One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ² There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. ³ Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.  ⁵ Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child^[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ⁶ And they had nothing to say.  ⁷ When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹ If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. ¹¹ For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  ¹² Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Purpose: Using the occasion of the Lord’s Supper for a brief message relative to the interrelationships of Jesus at a supper.

Timeline/Series:  LORD’S SUPPER             

Introduction

                Take note please that on a Sabbath, the Holy Day to a Jew, Jesus went into the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to share in a festive meal.  It is said that the Jews normally ate two meals a day; but on the Sabbath a festive meal was added to the middle of the day.  It is a joyful occasion.

                Some people have a forlorn and complex view of Jesus as a man who never was other than serious.  John Wesley founded a school near Bristol, England, where no games were allowed because “He who plays when he is a child will play when he is a man.”

                William Barclay (G30p201) gives us some examples of this short-sighted view of the happy Christ.  He quotes Swinburne, “Thou has conquered, O pale Galilean. The world has grown gray at the breath.”  Julian spoke of “pale-faced, flat-breasted Christians for whom the sun shone and they never saw it.”  And it was A.B. Bruce who said one “could not conceive of the child Jesus playing games when he was a boy, or smiling when he was a man.”

                There were those present who were “watching Jesus closely.”  Let’s join them and see what we can learn of our Lord’s disposition.

                Observe Jesus’ Presence at the Supper.  Jesus never refused any man’s hospitality.  V1 “He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath.”  Jesus went in response to a supposed kindness.  It was a large gathering including lawyers and Pharisees.  It included also an infirm man, either a plant or someone who happened in off the street.  Jesus was not ill-at-ease in the surroundings.  V1: “They watched Him closely.”  Paratereo means “to watch with sinister intent.”

                Note, please, that at such a supper given in His honor, Jesus is present.

                Observe Jesus’ Activity at the Supper.  He was there as a Pharisee’s guest.  The lack of sincerity on the part of some would not change Him.  He was there as a guest.  However, one was present for whom something must be done.  V4: “And He took him and healed him and let him go.” 

                Attention is called to the Pharisees’ lack of value judgment.  It was the Sabbath.  That was their excuse to do nothing.  Jesus not only does what is right, he rebukes their do-nothing attitude. 

                At this supper given in honor of our Lord is the appropriate time to check our own values.

                Observe Jesus’ Teaching about a Supper.  V7: “So He told a parable” about being invited . . . to a wedding feast.”  There is always relevancy in Jesus’ teaching.  They were at a supper as guests.  Some were not acting accordingly. 

                V7 “He noted how they chose the best places.”  Thus, His teaching to them was a lesson in humility.  V10 “When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place.”

                Note that it is a rare thing for us to think of ourselves as humble.  What place would you want at the table where Jesus sat?

                Observe Jesus’ Advice to His Host.  He encourages him to examine his motives.  Why do we do the things we do?  Duty? Self-interest? To befriend?  He had invited Jesus and perhaps the infirm man.  Fearing what his friends would say, he invited them.

                Do the right thing and let God provide the blessing.  What better advice or higher goal could we accord than this?  I will do the right thing, and I will wait for God to bless as he will.

***THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***

THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM

#077                                                          THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM                                                                                 

Scripture  Matthew 16:13-19 NIV                                                                                                                   Orig. 8-30-64

                                                                                                                                                                                     Rewr. 3-1-88 

Passage:  ¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter,^[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[b] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.”

Purpose:  To call my people to a renewed awareness of commitment.  An attention to some topics of concern is required.

Keywords:          Christ, Lord         Duty      Commitment

Introduction

                We regularly talk about commitment.  We give only rudimentary attention to the place it should have in our lives.

                My dictionary translates it variously: “consigning for safe-keeping,” “an act of engagement or pledging,” “liability incurred,” “the act of doing,” “perpetration.”  Its Biblical use is almost always as a verb.  Paul admonishes Timothy to “keep that which is committed to Thy trust” (I Timothy 6:20).  And, of himself, in the following treatise he writes his young friend “I . . . am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him” (II Timothy 1:12).

                It is from a Greek verb, paratithēmi, meaning “guarding what is held in trust.” It is from this word that our word “tithe” comes, suggesting “to put,” or “to deposit.”  But this is not a “tithing” message, so let’s get back to other forms of commitment.

                You may have heard the story about the cow and the chicken that were serving as co-hostesses for a barnyard bash.  They decided to prepare the largest breakfast in history.  There would be eggs, and milk, grits, biscuits, ham and bacon, the works.  Everybody should be excited about doing their part.  Everybody, that is, but the hog.  He interrupted the proceedings, reminding the committee, “What you are offering to give is a token offering, but what you require of me is total commitment.”  Someone else ventures, “When a dog chases a rabbit, for the dog it’s fun and games, but for the rabbit, it’s a life and death situation.”

                We must remember that commitment requires a subject as well as an object.  We are not going to come to terms with this kind of dedication until we possess full knowledge about the ONE to whom we are committing ourselves.

I.             The First Key to the Kingdom Is the Key of Devotion.  V13 “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”  First off, let me remind you that a key is not idle curiosity.  My seminary days were spent working for the US Post Office.  Working nights, I was often called upon to fill in for absent, regular employees.  One of those functions involved Registered Mail.  I would find out, after the fact, that I had handled tens of thousands of dollars, for which I, alone, was responsible, once I signed as having received it.

                The more we know Christ, the more our devotion to him must grow.  There have been people we liked until we got to know them.  But the special people in our lives are people we grow more and more appreciative of as we know them better.

                Christ, Himself, attests to this need in our lives.  Matthew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother (son or daughter) more than me is not worthy of me.”  How many things do you love?  Which of them do you love more than you love Christ?  Simon Peter had a face-to-face confrontation with devotion during the trial of Jesus.  Later, Jesus said, “Simon, lovest thou me?”

                Paul’s epistles form the basis of our theology.  It is based on love for Christ.  I Corinthians 2:2 “I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”  He seeks to lead people to Jesus not to draw them unto himself.  Ephesians 3:19 “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” to therein be open to the people around us.

                It is to minimize self.  It is to accept others and sometimes their odd ways.  A little boy’s grandmother had come for a visit.  It was August, and she was sharing his bedroom.  She wanted the window down, he up.  About the fourth night he prayed, “Lord, bless mother and daddy, and make it hot for grandmother.”

II.            The Second Key Is That of Demonstration.  V16 Peter’s confession: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” V18 Jesus’ response: “on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 

                Our only connotation for demonstration is often only negative.  We read of sit-ins, and lay-ins, and marches that seem not pointless, but counterproductive.  We dispel any responsibility to react in this unacceptable manner.  But brethren, to be Christians, is to be on cross-course with our culture.

                Uppermost in our daily lives, should be our determination to demonstrate love for Christ.  As a clear example to lost people, understanding that the drift of society is away from God, not to Him.  The convention average of church members to baptisms is 1 to 30.  Last couple of years, we have been 1 to 17.  But frontier mission churches, and overseas work, often reveal a much higher proportion (1 to 10), because the people come to grips with this need.

                We cannot assume the emphases are going to reach these unreached people. We must promote these programs.  In a revival with a nationally prominent evangelist, a worker said, “I enjoyed the singer more.”  Was he more entertaining?  I Corinthians 1:18: “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.”

                That demonstration of love must be kept current.  It is the local church that is the gathering (focal point) of believers.  We must keep abreast of contemporary influences.  It is said that the Great Awakening of the 1730’s was born on preaching such as that of Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.  People clutched the back of the pew to keep from falling into hell. 

                Sin has not changed. Its form may have.  Hell has not changed.  We hear less.  The church has not changed.  We still must point the way.  Jesus has not changed.  He died to save.  God has not changed.  We may not perceive of Him as angry, but He is just, and that should cause fear.

III.           The Final Key to the Kingdom Is an Assessment of Duty.  V19 “I will give unto you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

                So the keys are three: That of devotion, knowing Christ; that of demonstration, revealing His presence; and that of duty, being knowledgeable about the way we live and serve Him.  This third key is so important.  We have a duty to perform.  An article in the Baptist Message (March 1, 1988) tells of a volunteer couple from Texas who spent nine years in Minnesota.  (context lost)  You see, God does have a plan for each of us.  What He has for us may go undone if we withhold our commitment.

Conclusion

                Phillip P. Bliss was a music evangelist in meetings often with D.L. Moody.  Mr. Moody had told of a ship captain trying to bring his ship through a storm.  The lighthouse guided him safely into the harbor, but the channel lights were not burning, and inevitably they were swept into the rocks and many drowned.  The singer, moved by the illustration, wrote a song still in use over 100 years.

“Brightly beams our Father’s mercy From his Lighthouse evermore.

But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled, Loud the angry billows roar;

Eager eyes are watching, longing For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother: Some poor sailor tempest tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor, In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman You may rescue, you may save.”

THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS

#065                                                        THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS                                                                               

Scripture Luke 2:1-20 NIV                                                                                                                               Orig. 12/24/61

                                                                                                                                                                               Rewr. 12/18/75,                                                                                                                                                                                         12/9/76 

Passage: In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.  ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” ¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Keywords:          Christ Birth                          Christmas

Timeline/Series:               Christmas

Introduction

                One of the most beautiful of all of the stories that have to do with Christmas, is a story that many people have never heard.  It is the story of The Shepherd Who Stayed.  I don’t remember who wrote the story, or even where it can be found.

                There was simply another shepherd who fell to his knees that night on the Judean hillside.  A man who was moved with the glory of the moment.  A man who, like other men, was overwhelmed at what he saw and heard.  This shepherd, however, rejected the angels’ invitation to see.  “You will find the babe,” the angel had said.

                Our shepherd friend was keeper there in the Judean hills to only a hundred sheep, but they were his responsibility, and he intended to stay at his post.  I hear more than words when he gives his reason for not going to “the City of David.”  God is at work in Bethlehem, he reasoned, and one shepherd less would not make a difference.  But a shepherd in the hills could make a great deal of difference before this magnificent night is over.

I.             The Message of Christmas is One of Fearsome Revelation.  2:15 Let us . . . see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  It is beyond everything else, God’s message to his people.  You remember that it was the Word of God that brought this universe into existence. “And God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.”

                You also remember that it was the same Word of God that adjudged the world. “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”

                It was God’s Word which introduced man to taint an otherwise perfect place.  But this perfection meant nothing without someone being capable of comprehending it.    It would have to be a being capable of destroying it.  Now it is God’s Word seeking to redeem the earth’s most irredeemable subject.  V11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

                The Revelation becomes more fearsome when we discover that it is from the Sovereign.  There is the evidence of authority. “The angel of the Lord came upon them.” “A multitude of the heavenly host praising God.” “The babe lying in the manger.”

                There is the signature of design: 

“There is no art without an artist, no building without a builder,

no history without a patriot and his dream.

“Nor can there be a planet without a planner, a plant without a planter,

nor even yet a man without a Maker of this scene.”

                The revelation becomes burdensome if we acknowledge man’s accountability without God’s trustworthiness.  Every individual capable of self-comprehension is responsible for his choices and his actions.  One of the critiques of our age is upon the misuse of alcohol, drugs—prescription and otherwise, tobacco, sex, and the health burdens that are left in the wake of their use.

                You may have heard about the emaciated man who went to his doctor about his general health.  The only thing the doctor turned up was that he smoked too much.  “You must follow my advice.  Your trouble is your smoking.  Cut out all cigarettes except after meals.”  Two months later he was back for a checkup.  He looked better. He had gained weight. “I don’t know how long I can eat 15 meals a day.”

                This self-responsibility passes over into even those areas of stress that we do not control.  There were reasons why the shepherds could be reassured by the angel:  The teachings of their fathers; the physical accommodations of the evening; conversations that such a night invoked; a star like no other star.  While they were stricken with fear, their stress was abated by what these men were before the angel appeared.

II.            The Message of Christmas is One of Joyful Exultation.  There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 

                Joyful exultation is the result of faith.  They believed in a God of love whose purpose was to be known by his creation.  It was in the disciples’ fear of the unknown that Jesus said in Matthew 10:26 “Fear not, therefore, there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nothing hid that shall not be made known.”

                It was acknowledging God’s sovereignty over the unknown which caused Paul to write in Ephesians 1:9 “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.”

                Joyful exultation in faith culminates in understanding.  The story is told of Heinrich von Dannecker, great German sculptor of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries.  In his early years he won a name for himself in sculpting Ariadne and other Greek goddesses.  As he felt he was in his prime, he committed himself to what would be his major work.  It would be a colossal piece featuring the Christ.  He twice failed, but held to his purpose.  Finally, the work of a lifetime was complete.  It was all that he wanted it to be.  He later was approached by Napoleon to do a statue of Venus for the Louvre.  His answer was simple, “Sire, the hands that have carved the Christ can never again carve a heathen goddess.”

                Similarly, Lew Wallace, Civil War general, later governor of New Mexico, began work on a novel. It was to contain an atheist’s view of Christ.  The novel was Ben Hur.  The author became a Christian in his efforts to write such a novel.

                And understanding, when it is finished, brings fulfillment to the Christian life. V20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.   

                The shepherds believed a believable word and acting on such faith were rewarded for it.  They came to comprehend the involvement of God in the sameness of their lives.  They knew that God had appropriated to Himself, a message that would change their lives.  While they went back to the same sheep on the same hillside, their lives would never know sameness again.

                There is likewise given to us a believable word, but the reward of faith awaits the believer’s response.  How many of us have the gift of eternal life because we have believed?  Romans 6:23 The gift of God is eternal life.  John 1:12 As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. Matthew 7:11 If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

                Though near to faith, how many are there who are yet victims of self-condemnation because they have refused the believable WORD? John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”  

                We have been given life that we might find the Saviour.  The angelic light penetrates the blackness of our somber nights announcing, “Christ is born . . . go ye . . . and ye shall find . . . Glory to God.  When they had seen it . . . they returned, glorifying and praising God.”

Closing

                I was reminded a few days ago of the testimony of a young Japanese student who was at Southwestern when I was there.  The war years had been tragic.  His brother-in-law dead in a kamikaze (divine wind) raid.  His sister takes her own life.  His parents had been in diplomatic service in Europe, but would not survive the war.  His conversion came as a student in Germany after the war, when he was given a portion of a German New Testament.  He tells of the time, at the start of the war, when they were given one hour to pack one suitcase, to then be extradited to their homeland.  He remembered watching his mother trying to make the decision about what to put in that suitcase.  She would put in objects of gold and silver, then ancestor-honoring porcelain, of great worth.  Finally she loaded the suitcase with woolens and foodstuffs.

*THE REMAINDER OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST*

REFLECTION, attached to this sermon in Rev. Skinner’s file

Henry W. Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along th’unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:

“There is no peace on earth,” I said,

“For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till, ringing, singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

THE THREE-FOLD GRACE OF GOD

#042                                                     THE THREE-FOLD GRACE OF GOD                                                                            

Scripture Matthew 5:5-13; 26:39 NIV                                                                                Orig. 7-5-64 (10-75) (4-85)

                                                                                                                                                                                  Rewr. 4/22/84 

Passage:  V5-13 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

V26:3939 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Purpose:              Using Jesus’ teaching and example in prayer to remind us of the parameters of God’s grace in our lives today

Keywords:          Commitment                     Grace of God                     Prayer                   Christ Mediator                 Communication

Introduction

Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian leader of peaceful resolution, gained many of his most significant insights from Christ.  He is quoted as having said that he would have given more serious consideration to having become an avowed follower of Christ had it not been for some of the Christians that he had known.  It is still so, that the greatest hindrance to the Kingdom of God is usually found in the discordant events in the lives of those who are presumably members of the kingdom.

Dr. R.G. Lee entitled one of his favorite sermons, “The Menace of Mediocrity.”  In it he writes “Mediocrity is somebody with diamond and ruby talents, worth as little to God’s cause through the church as a punctured Japanese nickel is worth at a Chinese bazaar.”  In that message, he mentions another sermon entitled “Bantam Baptists.”  Dr. Lee said he could have preached the same message to any gathering.  He would only have had to change the name: “Midget Methodists, Peewee Presbyterians, Lilliputian Lutherans, Puny Pentecostals, Miniature Mennonites, or Diminutive Disciples.”

Too many of us as Christians seem content to go through life with some such spiritual mediocrity as that mentioned in the child’s verse that many of us read to our children.

                “Solomon Grundy

Born on Monday,

Christened on Tuesday,

Married on Wednesday,

Taken ill on Thursday,

Worse on Friday,

Died on Saturday,

Buried on Sunday.

And that was the end of Solomon Grundy.”

I.             Grace is First Considered in Communication with the Father.  V6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place.”

It acknowledges the practiced humility.  It means to practice prayer.  It means that we are to do so even though we are not advantaged in the world’s eyes.

Charles Schultz has cartoon books for teens. Girl to Sunday School classmates: “I had to give up my secret closet of prayer.  Every time I went in there, all those cashmere sweaters made me feel guilty.”  Think how many of the world’s problems could be resolved if more of us were willing to be disadvantaged.  Ireland could become a land of religious harmony.  Central America could offer struggling third world nations a chance to be free and economically secure.  South Africa could resolve racial hostility.

It acknowledges practical meditation.  Clearly, we are to search for answers.  We are to do so with resolve in what the Father already knows. V8 “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask.” 

Jesus not only taught us so to pray, he exercised this option to the fullest.  Recourse to this grace is extended to each of us.  Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”  II Chronicles 32:8 “With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us.”  We seem to want Him removed out of our politics and government, out of our schools and homes. All that will be left is churches.  All that will be left is some social stigma, or worse, against believers.

Mediocrity is but a step away when we fail to be in touch with God’s grace through prayer.  It is to claim other resources than God.  It is to claim dependence on our own wit and charm. Luke 18:11 In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, [I thank Thee that I am me.]”

II.            Grace Extends to Companionship in the Father.  V8 “Be ye not therefore like unto them; for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.”  It pertains to a day-by-day awareness of God, and His help.  Norman Vincent Peale: “Millions of men and women are creeping through life on their hands and knees merely because they refuse to rely on any power but self.”  Too many of us are too distracted by the myriads of things in our lives.  V7 Admonishes us “not to use vain repetition as the heathen do.”  It is to put the Lord first, and to know where we stand with Him. 

Remember the old radio ad of the dog sitting before an old timey speaker.  The caption says it all: “His master’s voice.”  It is to be obedient to Him.  “Too many Christians spend six days sowing wild oats, and the seventh praying for a crop failure.” 

Such companionship offers not only daily help, but also delivering help.  V13 “Deliver us from the evil one.”  People who are insensitive to Satan’s zeal, tend to discount his power.  It is amazing how many people respond to exercise, diet programs.  They eat the right foods.  They work out strenuously.  But these same people give no consideration to spiritual needs.  James 1:4 “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed.”

The promise of God’s help is in accord with the practice of faith.  I Corinthians 10:13 “God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able.”

Daily help, delivering help, becomes determined help.  V10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  We don’t come into the kingdom grown.  We grow in the pursuit of God’s will as we nourish our interest in it.  Our Daily Bread told of a tribal chief where missionaries were working.  “If you become better men and women by being Christians, you may remain so; if not, I forbid you to be Christians at all.”

III.           Beyond Communication and Companionship, there is Commitment.  Matthew 26:39: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

No person ever wanted to live, or had reason to live, like Jesus did.  “Let this cup pass.”  He thought of needs: hunger, disease, injustice. He thought of meaningless religion: unbelief, cynicism, error. He thought of misguided zealots: Jewish and pagan.  He thought of the disciples and their wavering faith: Judas’ rejection, Peter’s denial.

Jesus wanted to live.  “Let this cup pass from me.”  But greater than His desire to live was His determination to do God’s will.  Thus, grace is given: Grace opening to us the door to communing with the Father; Grace enabling us to experience companionship in the Father; Grace motivating us for commitment in the Father.

Conclusion

                The French painter, Emile Ranouf, has depicted on canvas what he calls, “The Helping Hand.”  It is of an elderly man in fishing gear, rowing a boat with a small girl at his side.  Obviously, there is great love between them.  Her small hands are also on oars.  He looks at her fondly.  The child has desire, but the strength is the grandfather’s.  Thus is a renewable parable of our relation to God.